BROOKHAVEN —Brookhaven Building Inspector David Fearn said his office issued a permit for a remodel of the Rite Aid retail space on Brookway Boulevard.  A local sporting goods store could move from its current location to the space. 

People worked in the Rite Aid space with an open door, lights turned on, exposed concrete floor and the fresh smell of sawdust breathing life into the once vacant space Tuesday afternoon. Rite Aid was located at 820 Brookway Blvd. 

601 Sports, currently located at 844 Brookway Blvd, was issued a permit to remodel the space of the former Rite Aid store, Fearn said. Rite Aid closed in May 2018 after it was bought out by Walgreens. 

Tracey Smith, manager of 601 Sports in Brookhaven, confirmed they had obtained a permit to remodel the Rite Aid building and plan to move. He added they do not have a timeline of when the remodel will be finished and when the move will occur. 

“The landlord wanted us to move down. It is a little bigger of a store space,” Smith said. “It has a little bit of a bigger sales floor. We can carry more merchandise and different items we don’t normally carry. We are going to pick up some things that are new to us. We don’t know what yet.” 

He said work on the remodeling project started about a week or two weeks ago. The Daily Leader will provide additional updates on when 601 Sports does start the moving process to the new retail space. 

“It is a lot of work but we are excited by the move,” Smith said. “We have a lot of work to do before we can get down into that building though.”